1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of health management, and in particular to a system and method for remotely monitoring a patient and for training the patient to comply with a treatment plan for a health condition.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, an increasing number of healthcare providers have initiated outpatient or home healthcare programs for their patients. The potential benefits of these home healthcare programs are particularly good for chronically ill patients, such as those suffering from asthma or diabetes, who must treat their diseases on a daily basis. However, the success of these home healthcare programs is currently limited by the ability of healthcare providers to assess, monitor and train patients to comply with treatment plans for their health conditions.
Many systems have been developed for remotely monitoring a patient's compliance with a prescribed medication plan. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,238 issued to Kirk et al. on Feb. 14, 1995 discloses a home healthcare and communication support system. The system includes a health support unit located in the patient's home for monitoring and supporting a patient. The health support unit is networked to a remote monitoring terminal for continuous remote monitoring of the patient. The health support unit includes a medication controller for measuring the patient's medicine compliance and a communications module for communicating with an operator at the monitoring terminal. The health support is further networked to the patient's healthcare provider to allow the healthcare provider access to the patient's medicine compliance data.
A similar system for monitoring a patient's medicine compliance is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,172 issued to Dessertine on May 14, 1991. The system includes an automatic medicine compliance monitoring device for measuring the patient's actual medicine consumption. The monitoring device is connected to a patient computing device for recording the patient's medicine consumption. The patient computing device is further connected to a remote monitoring terminal for displaying the patient's medicine compliance to a healthcare provider. The system optionally includes a second monitoring device for monitoring a physical condition of the patient, such as heart rate, blood pressure, blood glucose, or respiration.
Although the systems described by Kirk and Dessertine allow remote monitoring of a patient's health condition and medicine compliance, they have no mechanism for ensuring patient compliance with a treatment plan. Further, these systems are not directed at providing the patient guidelines for treating a health condition. They are simply designed to monitor the patient from a remote location.
Numerous systems have also been developed for prompting a patient take prescribed doses of medication in addition to remotely monitoring the patient's health condition. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,231 issued to Kaish on Mar. 26, 1996 describes a patient-operated, hand-held system for testing and recording peak flow rates of an asthma patient. The system includes a peak flow meter for measuring the patient's peak flow rates and an alarm for prompting the patient to take a prescribed dose of medication. In using the system, the patient records his or her peak flow rates over a predetermined period of time, typically fifteen days to six months, before returning the system to a doctor for recovery of the peak flow data. At this time, the doctor may optionally reprogram the system with new alarm times and prescribed medicine doses.
Although the system described by Kaish has the advantage of prompting a patient to take medication, it lacks any mechanism for training the patient to actually comply with the prompts. The system is limited to issuing preprogrammed medicine instructions to the patient without teaching the patient why or how to follow the instructions. Further, the system cannot identify any problems the patient is experiencing in following a treatment plan for his or her health condition or teach the patient how to solve the problems. As a result, the patient may not be able to comply with the prescribed treatment plan, severely limiting the effectiveness of this home healthcare system. Additionally, the system described by Kaish does not permit continuous feedback between the doctor and patient for ongoing adjustment of the treatment plan.
Another system for remotely monitoring a patient and for prompting a patient to take a prescribed dose of medication is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,726 issued to Allen on Mar. 15, 1988. Allen describes a diabetes management system having a blood glucose meter for measuring a patient's blood glucose levels and for sending the blood glucose measurements to a physician. The system further includes a user interface for entering in the system data relating to the patient's medication usage, exercise routine, and dietary intake. Based on the entered data, the system calculates a recommended insulin dose for the patient using a physician prescribed algorithm stored in its memory.
Allen's system suffers from the same disadvantage as Kaish's system in failing to train the patient to comply with the prescribed treatment plan. The system is limited to issuing dosage instructions based on a preprogrammed algorithm without identifying any problems the patient is experiencing with the diabetes program or teaching the patient how to solve the problems. Consequently, the effectiveness of this diabetes management system is also limited.
A similar system for home management of diabetes is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,974 issued to Beckers on May 28, 1991. The system includes a physician computer for developing a diabetes therapy program and a patient recorder having an interface for exchanging data with the physician computer. The recorder has a blood glucose test strip for measuring the patient's blood glucose levels and a user interface for entering in the recorder data relating to the patient's insulin usage, exercise routines, and dietary intake. Using the patient data and therapy guidelines downloaded from the physician computer, the recorder calculates and displays to the patient a recommended insulin dosage, exercise plan, and diet. The recorder also receives from the physician computer new therapy guidelines developed from the patient's recorded data.
Although the diabetes management program disclosed by Beckers has the advantage of adjusting a patient's recommended therapy program based on remote monitoring of the patient, it also has the same disadvantage as the previous systems in failing to teach the patient how to follow the prescribed treatment plan. Becker's system has no mechanism for identifying problems the patient is experiencing with the diabetes program or for teaching the patient how to solve the problems. As a result, Becker's system is also ineffective for training the patient to comply with the diabetes treatment plan.